A. The recent study by NextShares, a division by Eaton Vance, a mutual fund company reveals the following data:
12b-1 Fees
These are the marketing fees that you pay to Mutual funds so they can sell to other investors, it just doesn't create any value to you. The study found average expense ratio is 0.4% annually on an equally weighted basis, or 0.15% asset-weighted.
Transfer Agent Fees
This is another layer middle man fee. Annual TA fees, flow related trading costs, and cash drag combined cost average 0.65% per for equal-weighted funds investors.
These fees, while are small percentages figures, when added up could lead to huge numbers, especially as your invested assets grow over time.